The major cause of morbidity and mortality in children below 5 years old, Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis is a global scourge. Since 1 July 2011, the PCV13 pneumococcal vaccine has been introduced into the routine immunization program in Cameroon. We describe the serotypes that caused pneumococcal meningitis after introducing the vaccine.
Pneumococcal isolates of children below 5 years of age between January 2013 and December 2018 sentinel surveillance for meningitis conducted at the Mother and Child Center, were serotyped and sequentially multiplexed polymerase chain reaction.
Of the 64 cases of confirmed streptococcal pneumoniae meningitis, 41 (64.06%) were analyzed for serotype identification and 34 serotypes were obtained. The most common are: 6A-6B-15B-2-4-5-12F-7A-7F-12A-12B-16F-17F-25F-44. The highest frequency of types 6A and 6B (14.71%) is noted. We observe a high frequency of serotypes 2 and 5 in the age group 0-5Month: 3/16 (18.75%). 2/14 (14.28%) of children in the age group 6-23Month have serotype 12A / 12B / 12F / 44/4. As for the age group of 24-59M, the most represented serotype is 15B: 2/11(18.18%).
Although the PCV13 vaccine is beneficial in Cameroon, it is necessary to constantly monitor the emergence of non-vaccinal serotypes because from the results, we note the emergence of other serotypes.